In my abstract and figurative depictions of women’s stories, I speak through body language, using forms without facial features to convey the almost musical lines of a woman’s shape. The themes of emancipation and liberation are at the heart of my work.
Raja Oshi is a Sudanese artist now living in South Africa. Graduated from the College of Fine and Applied Art at the Sudanese University of Science and Technology in Khartoum in 1994, her journey of diaspora, and that of her family, has taken her through Norway, Wales, France and Egypt. From 2004 to present, she has settled in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. Oshi obtained her Honours in Visual Arts from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2021. By using mixed media and recycled materials, Raja delves into diverse textures and colors, weaving strips of canvas to create surfaces with surprising textures and responses to paint. Layers of mixed materials and paint overlap, allowing hints of color to emerge from the edges, layers, and spaces. This process often leads to unexpected discoveries. Her artwork serves as a means to confront and process the harsh realities she observes.